How to have the Sistine Chapel to yourself (almost)

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Hands of God and Adam, detail from The Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Ceiling, 1511Michelangelo Buonarroti/Getty

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Basilica San MarcoTom Grill/Getty

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Horserace at Palio Festival, SienaSimeone Huber/Getty

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Il Duomo, FlorenceGuy Vanderelst/Getty

Alex O’Connell

Published at 12:01AM, October 6 2012

When Rome’s iconic chapel turns 500 next month, more private viewings will be allowed. We enjoy the view without the crowds

We are in the Sistine Chapel and it’s as quiet as an empty confessional. While
the rest of Rome is knocking back caffé corretto and kick-starting their
motorini, we are standing on the most covetable floor tiles I have ever seen
— they don’t do these in Fired Earth — our heads tilted back like indoor
stargazers. Our necks are beginning to freeze up but we’re not budging.
There are only 20 of us in here and we know that we have 15 precious minutes
before we become a few tiny figures in a tourist throng — a sort of Where’s
Wally? Vatican